


safe place

by Cassie_Bones



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: A Pinch of Angst, F/F, F/M, Foster Kids AU, Gen, M/M, Multi, Sanvers - Freeform, Space Dad, a teaspoon of comedy, gay strays, lightly stirred, several cups of gay, smol children, space mom, strays
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 17:17:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11040699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassie_Bones/pseuds/Cassie_Bones
Summary: “What do you mean?” Alex asks, following her mother around as Eliza hastily pulls open all the drawers in her dresser and tosses her clothes haphazardly into Alex’s suitcase. “Where are we going?” It’s only a week after her father’s funeral and she still feels the pain with every breath she takes; still finds her gaze going to his empty chair at the head of the table every night during dinner. It’s been quiet for the last couple of her days as Eliza’s been working late at the lab.Or, at least, that’s what she said she was doing. Until tonight.orEliza learns about J'onn immediately following Jeremiah's 'death' and decides to do something about Cadmus immediately. Major AU that includes M'gann as J'onn's fiancee (he knows about the White Martian thing) and abandoned gay/bi children, Lena Luthor, Maggie Sawyer, and Winn Schott, who all get taken in by Space Dad. It's gonna be good and gay and fluffy and somewhat angstyEnjoy!(also highly encouraged by J/queercapwriting)





	safe place

**Author's Note:**

  * For [queercapwriting (queergirlwriting)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queergirlwriting/gifts).



“What do you mean?” Alex asks, following her mother around as Eliza hastily pulls open all the drawers in her dresser and tosses her clothes haphazardly into Alex’s suitcase. “Where are we going?” It’s only a week after her father’s funeral and she still feels the pain with every breath she takes; still finds her gaze going to his empty chair at the head of the table every night during dinner. It’s been quiet for the last couple of her days as Eliza’s been working late at the lab.

Or, at least, that’s what she said she was doing. Until tonight.

Until tonight, when she had come home just after sundown and tugged her girls off the couch, practically dragging them both up the stairs to their individual bedrooms. Kara still didn’t have much in the way of stuff. Just some sweaters, jeans, and blouses; a pair of sneakers and one or two pairs of ballet flats. She’s started to collect books and CD’s, but she keeps them all organized on the shelves in her room. It hadn’t taken too long for Eliza to pack them all away into a suitcase, which had terrified the fourteen-year-old girl so badly that she’d run straight into Alex’s arms, fearing that Eliza was planning to send her away.

When Eliza had come into Alex’s room next, she’d opened her mouth to ask what was going on—to protest sending Kara anywhere without her, to threaten running away with her little sister in tow if she even _thought_ about separating them—but Eliza had gone straight to her closet and taken out her suitcase and duffel bag and told her to pack everything she didn’t want to leave behind. When Alex just blinked at her, she’d started with the clothes that Alex had barely bothered to fold before stuffing them into her dresser.

Eliza doesn’t answer her at first, muttering to herself as she rushes around the room. She packs every t-shirt, every pair of ripped jeans, all two of Alex’s wrinkled dresses, every flannel, every pair of socks and underwear and Converse, every sweater and hoody and hat that would fit in the suitcase, then has Kara hold it down while she zips it all up. She starts on the duffel bag, reaching for all the science books and Alex’s beloved microscope and the first medal she’d won for surfing and the baseball mitt she’d long since outgrown but refuses to throw out because Jeremiah had given it to her when she made pitcher on her first softball team.

She had pitched two no-hitters at only eight years old and Jeremiah had carried her all the way to the ice cream parlor after both, on his shoulders.

Eliza glances around the room, still muttering to herself under her breath and even with her alien hearing, Kara can’t make heads or tails of what she’s saying. She shrugs at Alex as her older sister watches their mother walk aimlessly around the bedroom.

“Mom?” Alex asks, quieter this time. “Are you okay?”

“Safe place,” Eliza replies, as if she hadn’t even heard her. “Have to bring them to a safe place.”

“Who?”

This time, Eliza does turn to her, with wide eyes. “You,” she answers. “Have to get you to a safe place. Before they get here.”

“Who’s they?” Alex asks, her heart tightening in fear as she goes to stand by Kara, reaching for her hand. Kara squeezes just a bit too tightly and Alex can feel her muscles crack slightly, but she ignores it in favor of comforting her terrified little sister.

“Cadmus.”

Eliza whispers the word like a curse, like just the mere mention of it or they—or whatever Cadmus is—will make it appear before their very eyes, in Alex’s bedroom, surrounded by Nirvana and Periodic Table posters. Alex knows immediately not to ask any more questions about this “Cadmus” and instead begins to round up books and other things that she wants to bring along…wherever the hell it is that they’re going.

She hopes that it’s near the shore as she grabs her surfboard and rash guard from the closet. She doesn’t know what she’ll do if she can’t surf.

When she’s finished, she sits on her bed and waits for her mother to stop muttering and say something more intelligible, to give them any sort of clue that things will be alright. Kara is pressed tightly against her side, repeatedly pushing up her glasses and tugging at the ends of her blonde hair.

“Mom!” she finally says, too loudly, and Eliza startles, turning toward them with wide eyes. “Please,” Alex begs, “talk to us. What’s going on?”

“I,” Eliza starts, her head shaking slightly. “I can’t. I-I’m so sorry, Alexandra. Kara. I just…I can’t.”

Before Alex can even ask her what she means by that, insists that she explain before Kara has a nervous breakdown, there’s a knock at the front door. It’s in a strangely specific pattern that seems to relax Eliza before she urges her daughters to stand and grab their bags. Kara takes one of Alex’s, easily lifting it onto her shoulder as she drags her own suitcase behind her. Alex follows, hefting her own down the stairs.

Before they reach the door, Eliza shoos the girls into the dining room and tells them to stay there until she knows it’s safe.

“If I say, ‘pot sticker,’” she says, looking at Kara, “you leave through the back. Fly, if you must, but do _not_ look back. Understand?” There are tears in Kara’s eyes as she nods and Eliza pulls them both in for a tight hug before she turns to the door, unlocking it and opening it just a crack.

When her body relaxes for the second time, she opens the door wider and welcomes two tall men inside. One of them has broader shoulders than the other and is obviously older than the other, who looks to be about college-aged, but they’re both black and tower over Eliza. She gives them both relieved smiles and grabs the hands of the younger man.

“Thank you, Jimmy,” she says. “Thank you so much. You didn’t even have to—”

“It’s fine, Mrs. Danvers,” he replies, giving her a soft grin. “I’m happy to help. And Clark sends good thoughts. He wishes he could be here but Lex—”

“I understand,” Eliza says. “He has an entire city to keep safe.” She takes a deep breath and turns to the older man. Her face is somewhat more guarded now; there’s less trust in her gaze. “J’onn.”

“Hank,” the man says, softly. His voice is so soft, Alex notices; as is the expression on his face. “Hello, Mrs. Danvers. It’s nice to finally meet you in person.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Eliza replies. “But your face…” She shakes her head.

“I understand,” ‘Hank’ replies. “But I can assure you, _that_ man is…gone. It’s just me and I promise I will not let anything happen to your girls. You have my word on that.”

Eliza nods and turns to the dining room, where she can see Kara and Alex peeking out around the corner. She motions them forward and the scamper out into the open, their faces guarded as they take in the sudden appearance of these two… _guests_.

“Kara, Alex,” she says, “this is Jimmy Olsen. He’s a friend of Clark’s.”

“James,” the younger man corrects, holding out his hand. “Hi.” He offers his hand to Kara first. “Your cousin has told me so much about you, Kara,” he says.

 _He barely knows anything about her_ , Alex thinks bitterly, but she says nothing. She sees the older man’s face twitch in amusement, but then it’s gone just as quickly.

“Nice to meet you,” Kara says, politely, shaking James’s hand. Alex notices immediately how pink her cheeks are and grins to herself as James turns to shake her hand. Then she frowns when she makes a realization.

“Where are we going?” she asks, looking between the two men and her mother. “Will I have to transfer schools? What about Vicky? All my friends?”

“You’ll make new friends,” Eliza says, but she doesn’t meet Alex’s eyes. “So will Kara.”

“I don’t really have many friends here, anyway,” Kara murmurs, under her breath.

“Well, perhaps you’ll make friends with Winn, then,” the older man—Hank—says, with a smile. “He’s my fiancée’s foster son. He’s very nice. Intelligent, like you.” He glances between both girls now. “Your mother has told me that you both have an affinity for science.”

“Yeah, well, when your parents are scientists…” Alex shrugs, still thinking of Vicky and how she won’t even get to say goodbye to her best friend. How she should have slept over the last time Vicky invited her, instead of studying for her stupid history test. Who the hell cares about history when Vicky Donahue invites you for a sleepover at her house, in her bed…

Now she’ll never get the chance again.

“Hopefully,” Hank says, “everything will be resolved quickly and you’ll be able to return within a few weeks. Until then, I’m sure the students at National City High School will welcome you with open arms.”

“National City?” Alex gasps. “But that’s…no way!” She looks up at her mother. “We can’t move there. It’s…no.” She shakes her head firmly, but Eliza gives her an angry look.

“Alex, do you want to put your sister’s life in danger? Is that what you want?”

“No,” Alex says, instinctively reaching for Kara’s hand and squeezing. “But I just—”

“Then you will go,” Eliza interrupts. “And you will not complain. And you will watch over your sister while you’re gone. And you will listen to J— _Hank_ and his fiancée…” she looks up at the man for help.

“Megan,” he supplies. “Megan Moore is my fiancée. I think you’ll like her.”

Eliza nods. “You will mind them and I don’t want to hear about any mischief on your part, do you understand?”

Alex swallows past the lump in her throat and blinks rapidly to rid herself of the tears in her eyes as she nods. “Okay,” she says, squeezing Kara’s hand even harder. She takes a deep breath. “Where are you going to be? Aren’t you coming with us?”

Eliza just shakes her head, before turning back to Hank and James. “Promise me you’ll keep them safe,” she says. “That Cadmus won’t even lay a finger on them.”

“They’ll be safe, Mrs. Danvers,” Hank says. “I swear to you. They are officially under the protection of the DEO.”

Eliza makes a sound in the back of her throat like she doesn’t believe what he’s just said. Hank sighs and shakes his head.

“It won’t be like that,” he says, though Alex knows that her mother hasn’t even said a word. “Megan and I will do our very best, as will every single one of my agents. They’re _safe_.”

“Clark and I will be there whenever we can, too,” James adds. “I’m taking a few classes at the community college in National City, so I’ll be around to check in on them.”

“Thank you, James,” Eliza says, giving him a soft smile. She turns back to Hank, the smile dissolving. “I can’t lose them, Hank.”

“I understand completely.”

And everything in his eyes tells Alex that he does; painfully so.

That seems to finally get Eliza to nod and step off. She turns to the girls and opens her arms. “Give me a hug before you go,” she says. Kara almost immediately lets go of Alex’s hand and rushes into her arms, pressing her face into Eliza’s neck and sinking into her embrace. Eliza kisses her forehead and cheeks and whispers something into her ear, before pulling back and wiping the tears from her face. “Be good,” she says, smiling in amusement because, with Kara, that’s a given.

Then she turns to Alex and offers her hand. Begrudgingly, Alex takes it and even allows herself to be pulled into her mother’s arms, hugging her back just as tightly despite the anger she can feel welling up in her chest. It feels like she’s being abandoned by the second parent in as many weeks, but she can’t help wanting to hold on for as long as possible.

It’s like she’s six again, about to go to her first slumber party and scared out of her wits at the prospect at being away from home for a full night without Mommy or Daddy there.

But she’s not six anymore. She’s sixteen. And she’s strong. She doesn’t need her mother to hold her hand and, obviously, neither does her mom. So she backs out of Eliza’s arms too soon and turns to Kara.

“Let’s go,” she says, grabbing the handle of her rolling suitcase as she heads past James and Hank, confident that Kara will follow. And that her mother, of course, will just watch her go.

But something inside her—deep, deep, _way deep_ —wishes that Eliza would run after them and announce that this is all a mistake. That they’re not going anywhere. At least not without her.

That doesn’t happen.

Instead, Hank ushers them both into a plain-looking sedan, with tinted windows and a bad paint job. James takes their bags from them and places them into the trunk. Alex stares forward as she hears the trunk slam closed and then watches as the men climb into the seats in front. She hears Kara click on her seatbelt and mechanically does her own. She feels the motor begin to run and the click of the gears shifting. She watches the car lurch forward, the trees that line their driveway disappear into the night as they drive straight ahead. She feels Kara twist in her seat, watching Eliza through the background, then feels her turn forward and reach for Alex’s hand, linking their fingers.

Finally, she feels her own eyes fill with tears, her own chin beginning to quiver as her gaze turns from looking out the windshield, to looking out her window, hiding her face from everybody in the car. Because she’s sixteen and not six. Because she’s not a baby anymore. Because she has to be strong.

For Kara.


End file.
